I'm happy to say the stress test was a piece of cake. The only bad part was the waiting around between procedures; the whole thing took about 3 hours. I was most apprehensive about the sensation of my heart racing after I got the medication, but no such thing happened. After one technician put in an IV line, she took pictures of the heart at rest. Later, she did it after the exercise part. In between, you drink several glasses of water (have no idea why), and the nurse does an EKG. The doctor comes in for the actual recording of the blood flow, presumably because you're then injected with "the stuff." I was surprised when they asked if I could walk and I'm still puzzled as to why my doctor ordered the chemical, not the treadmill, test. When I mentioned that to the cardiologist, he had me do what I think was a modified version, putting me on the treadmill for a few minutes. However, it was set at a very slow pace. Susan and I go at a brisk clip during our morning walk and this was glacial.
Anyway, they were all very nice at Cardio Diagnostics. I bemoaned the fact I wasn't able to have my coffee that morning, and Karen, the tech, even made a pot and brought me a cup in the middle--guess it's the first part that disallows caffeine.
Went back to Penney's after and had no more luck at finding anything for the fashion show. After I meet David for lunch, I'm going to the one at Quakerbridge Mall in Lawrence. If I can't find a decent dress or skirt there, I'm going to tell Bea I'd rather not do it this year. Next year, I'll be able to shop in the misses department and will climb back on the runway!
Stopped at Catherine's, a shop that specializes in larger sizes, and got a great black and red shirt, which I'll wear today over a red shell and black pants. Their sizes go way up to about 5 or 6x and I'm in 1x, but they usually have a nice array of tops in the "smaller" (all things are relative, right?) sizes. They're pricey, but have terrific stuff there. Even better, they're styled for chubs--for instance, the sleeves on my new shirt go to the elbow with nice little cuffs on them and the shirt is a bit longer than the skimpy ones the size 10s wear. Of course, I always have problems with pants, all of which have to be hemmed, but otherwise, I like this place.
I like it so much, I hope never to have to shop there again after a few more months of Weight Watchers.